Deputy County Manager Michael C. Griffin, the county’s chief finance officer, said Wednesday that he has negotiated lower interest rates on the $12.9 million debt remaining on the West Pine and New Century middle schools.
The new interest rates will mean that the county’s debt payments will be reduced by about $30,000 each year for the next nine years.
Griffin is working with BB&T and First Union on efforts to refinance several other loans.
Refinancing the two school loans is good news, but Griffin was cautious about showing too much elation. He pointed out that a lower interest rate has its downside: the county’s interest income is likewise lower.
“This is a great opportunity for us, but we have to remember that our interest income for this year will also be down,” Griffin said.
The original loans for the two middle school buildings span a 15-year period, Griffin said. Under refinancing, the rate was reduced to 4.57 percent. The original rate for one building ranged from 4.9 to 4.57 percent, and the other rate averaged more than 5 percent within a range of 4.6 to 7.7 percent.
Moore County has about $20 million in General Fund debts, but not all of these loans are in a condition suitable for reduced interest rates.
The $382,305 debt remaining on the Register of Deeds building cannot be refinanced because the existing rate is already below 5 percent. Loans recently taken out for the social services renovation project and the new animal shelter are too new for refinancing.
The county has received confirmation of the bonds sold in 1998, and no refinancing is available there because the rate was already under 5 percent.
But Griffin and his staff are studying other debts. It may be possible to combine four separate loans at the airport and refinance those, and five loans affecting the Department of Public Utilities are likewise under study.
The Public Utilities loans total about $7 million, and the airport loans are less than $1 million.
The Public Utilities Enterprise Fund is separate from the county’s General Fund, and loans are met through the enterprise account. These debts include everything from the $5.9 million note negotiated in 1993, when the former Moore Water and Sewer Authority purchased the Pinehurst Water and Sewer System. MoWASA has since been dismantled, and the county has assumed ownership of these properties and operations. The county still owes $4.2 million.
Public Utilities debts also include such things as final payments toward purchase of the Seven Lakes system, the Vass system, construction of the department’s administration building and extension of the N.C. 211 water line from Seven Lakes to West Pine Middle School.
These are not the only debts the county is paying off. In 1994 the county issued almost $4.7 million in Certificates of Participation to expand and renovate the jail. This debt now stands at $3.1 million.
In the late 1990s, Moore County voters approved more than $35 million in general obligation bonds for the public schools and Sandhills Community College.
